[BC] Re: EAS

[Jerry Mathis]

Replies Embedded.

On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 9:27 AM, Larry Fuss <lfuss2 at cox.net> wrote:

>
> Stations that do so need to be willing to adhere to all EAS procedures.
> And it should be up to the state chairman to remind every LP1 and LP2 what
> their responsibility is.  Like I said, there's no communication in
> Mississippi.

Well, I'm not going to criticize our State chairman until I walk a mile in
his shoes. That way, when I criticize him, I'll be a mile away, and I'll
have his shoes  :D

>
> > I don't think there is a designated LP-2.
>
> According to the state plan, the LP-2 for each OA is the MPR station in
> that area.

Hmmm. I haven't seen that in the plan. You'd think they would include the
designation in the list of stations to be monitored. In the copy I have,
they don't.

>
> > In Meridian, one of my stations is ALREADY the LP-1 (WMSO, formerly
> WJDQ).
>
> You can thank me for that.  When I was there in the 70s, we managed to
> become
> the CPCS-1 for that area, taking the designation away from WMOX.  Stations
> in
> the outlying areas couldn't get a clean signal from WMOX at night.  When
> EAS
>
> came along, WJDQ became the LP-1.  I cranked that big diesel generator on
> the
> hill many times.  In the old days, the FM studio was right there, along
> with
> the
> AM transmitter for WDAL-1330.  (Did you ever wonder why the FM tower had a
> ground system?)  When that sucker was running, the whole building vibrated
> and
> you could hear the generator on-air.  The news director and I did a
> marathon
> air
> shift in '79 when Hurricane Frederick hit Meridian.  That was fun.

Yes, I've seen the ground system. I figured there must have been an AM
there, but I didn't know what, until now. BTW, that big generator has been
replaced. It had been removed from the site before I was hired. After
Katrina, Clear Channel sprung for a new Kohler 80KW job, with an ATS to
replace that manual transfer switch. Nice. The old genny, BTW, is sitting in
a barn behind our studios. They say it was working when removed. (No, I
don't know why they removed it.)

Oh, and I stayed at that site for a good part of Katrina. You're right,
that's a lot of fun  :/

>
> > I've followed this thread all the way, and I know what the others have
> told
> you. Technically and legally, they are correct IMO: to cover yourself, you
> need to follow up on every missed test.
>
> I finally got tired of calling people who said "uh, I dunno", or "let me
> get
> back to you on that" and then never called back.  I'm no longer wasting my
> time
> on that.

A couple of years ago now, one of the local TV stations called us and
complained that we weren't forwarding things we should have been. I had just
taken over doing the EAS logs and had all our ducks in a row. I told them
that we forwarded everything that came to us. The TV station apparently went
to the FCC. One of the stations we monitor is a relay station. I heard later
through the grapevine that the FCC went there and checked them, and cleaned
their clock. We get EVERYTHING from them now!

>
> Perhaps it was before your time, but the most famous EAS screw-up was when
> WMSI
> sent a RMT along with a 30-second spot for a dry cleaner in Jackson.  Since
> it
> was a RMT, it was relayed statewide, at least on those stations that had
> auto-
> forwarding turned on.  EAS in Mississippi has gotten no better since then.
>
> LF
>

THAT hasn't happened on my watch. Not to my knowledge, anyway. The WORST
thing that's happened lately is that the MHP (Highway Patrol), when it came
their turn to originate the RMT, sent an AMBER Alert instead. Fortunately
for radio, the audio message DID state it was a test, but the TV stations
got an AMBER Alert scrawl with no other information. I DID write and
complain about that. I heard back that MHP was given further training so
this wouldn't happen again.

> --
> Jerry Mathis
>